The Twilight Christmas Special
by Mystical Cheetoes
Summary: Bella and Edward are brought to the North Pole in order to save an ancient people. Can they prevail?


The night sky was as black as space, the cool, bone-chilling wind billowing in a rhythm that made it seem like Mother Nature was using it to create an orchestral melody. That melody made my skin feel like ice, and I didn't like it. But it was Christmas night, and it was supposed to be cold.

I looked around. It was hard to see, because the night was so intense tonight. It was late, and I had been awake for a long enough time to be feeling tired. But everything was so beautiful, and exactly how I wanted it to be. That's how it always was when I was with Edward. I was glad he was here with me now. Nothing could be so dark that I couldn't see him, and I knew that with his vampire senses, he could probably see me as clearly as if it were the brightest, shining, beachweather day.

"I'm always happy when I know you're looking at me, Edward," I whispered gingerly, hoping my utterances, breaking the silence that was permeating our moment, wouldn't destroy the pureness of our respite.

"Yes, you're special to me, Bella," he said back to me, his voice as cool as the wind was brisk. It was that coolness that made me melt like ice surrounded by a blanket of loving fire whenever he spoke.

I sighed happily, and felt like everything was perfect. But I was tired still.

"Edward, let's spend the night here, under the stars, where there is nothing but us and our love around us," I chanced, hoping he would, our minds connected by love, feel the same as I did and want to stay here.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Bella. It's late and cold, and I don't want you to get hurt," he spoke slowly and confidently.

"But you're here with me, so I'll be safe," I pleaded, desperate to convince him.

"Bella, I'm hungry, and you know that makes me dangerous," he seriously stated in a way that made me disappointed, but love him even more than before, if that were even possible. He was so beautiful and protective, it was hard to believe.

"But…but I know you won't hurt me, and there's an animal in the trees, I heard it just now. You can eat it, and then we can sleep here. It will be bliss," I said in my most persuasive voice.

"Ok," he said simply. I was overjoyed. I watched him as he arose gracefully. He blazed into the forest and took his meal, then came back to me.

"Goodnight," he said to me.

"Goodnight," I said back, knowing that since he didn't sleep, he would probably watch me rest the entire night. I wouldn't have it any other way.

I woke up, feeling rested and in love with Edward. Opening my formerly closed eyes, I expected to find him next to me, and was horrified to see he wasn't there. I didn't know what could have happened to make him leave, and I was scared. Perhaps he went off to feed?

I looked around, seeing nothing, as if the world had gone vacant of everything. I noticed that I was no longer outside in the wild, but in an empty white room. It was so void of anything that it seemed immense, but made me claustrophobic too. I saw a door, and, quenching my frightened spirit, decided to walk through it.

I strolled into a hallway, which was also impossibly white. I was still so cold. _Wherever I am, it must still be Christmas_, I thought to myself.

"Good morning, Miss," a voice said behind me. I spun around quickly, but lost my balance in the process, ungracefully landing on the floor. _If I make it to the New Year, I think my resolution should be to be less clumsy_, I vowed while scrambling to regain my lost composure. But then I saw the originator of the voice, and knew I would be uncomposed for the time being.

He was tall and lithe, a youthful-seeming man of great beauty. He was pale, but not in a way that made him seem unhealthy, because he actually appeared vibrant and full of vigor. His hair cascaded down to the sharply defined blades of his shoulders and was golden as the Arabian dunes, shimmering and lustrous. He wore a dark, tightly fitting brown uniform with silver epaulettes, and I saw what I thought was the hilt of a sword strapped to his back. _A uniform and sword_, I pondered. _Is this man in some sort of army_? I wondered.

"M-m-morning," I managed to mutter, momentarily mustering the moxie to match the movements of my mouth with the machinations of my mind. I was still on the ground.

"Please, allow me to help you to your feet, Miss," he spoke, offering his darkly gloved hand down to me. I grasped it, and he eased me up gently. I could feel there was a strength inside of him that rested until called upon. _Be careful, Bella_, I silently thought to myself.

"Thank you," I said.

"Of course, Miss. Are you alright?" he queried.

Everything about him, from his voice to his frame, seemed solid and trustworthy, and so I decided to answer him truthfully.

"Yes, I think so. I have a bad habit of falling when I see new places," I said, giggling sheepishly. _Why did I say that? That was a stupid thing to say…_

"I see. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Aquarides. I am the son of Okeanos and of the Royal House of Atlantis. I am pleased to formally meet you."

"Um, hi. My name is Bella. It's nice to meet you too, Aquarides."

"Yes, I know who you are, Miss. You see, I am the one who brought you and the Sparkle Skin here," he revealed to me. _Sparkle Skin_, I thought to myself. _Wait, does he mean Edward!?_

"Edward is here!? Where is he!? Where are we!?" I asked, shaken out of the trance I now believed I had been in.

"Please do not be alarmed, Miss. The Sparkle Skin is safe, as are you. As for where we are, this is the North Pole. I brought you here because I need your help. You know of the Santa, do you not?" he asked intensely, and it seemed as if he could barely allow the name of Santa Claus out from between his two lips, his voice trailing to a shrill whisper as he uttered the name.

"The…North…Pole!? The Santa? What are you talking about!? What is this!?" I almost screamed it at him. _Is this some kind of joke?_

"I know your people tell stories of the Santa. You characterize him as a portly fellow, one who spreads benevolence to the developing offspring of your people. I have brought you to the center of his empire, the seat from which he rules."

"Really? Why me? And where's Edward!?" I pleaded, feeling unsafe without him.

"The Sparkle Skin is being taken care of. You both have a role to play here, which is why I have brought you. My brother, Pacificus, is preparing him for his endeavor, as I will prepare you. Please, follow me, Miss, we have not much time."

He grabbed my hand with his, and led me through a labyrinthine series of white hallways. Everything was cold and slippery, and I figured that we must have been in some kind of ice building.

"Where are you taking me?" I asked finally.

"The nerve center of this place," he uttered. And then we stopped, and he took me by the shoulders, staring into my eyes with his. "I suppose it cannot be avoided, so I will tell you," he sighed reluctantly. "You must listen to me. The Santa is not what you Ground Dwellers think him to be."

"Ground Dwellers?" I asked. "Do you mean people like me?"

"Yes, Miss, _homo sapiens_. I am what you might call _homo ichthyus sapiens_, or a Wise Man Fish. My people came from the North Pole, but colonized the oceans thousands of years ago. My family founded the Kingdom of Atlantis, where my father, Okeanos, ruled as King.

"Atlantis prospered, growing in size and power over the centuries. Ours became the model city for my people. There were others of my kind living throughout the world, but many remained in our ancestral homeland, the North Pole. The Santa ruled this place, back when he was known as Joermungandr, and he became jealous of my father's accomplishments.

"He began to plot an invasion of Atlantis. He found no support for his cause, and turned to the dark arts of the ancients to bring his evil to fruition. He developed a berry that could only grow in the deepest pits of this Pole, and when he ate it, he gained the ability to shapeshift. That is when he became the Santa. He used his new powers to rally support among the people, and with a vast army of Snowlanders, he subjugated my family. My father was killed, and my brother and I were taken as the Santa's slaves.

"Our time with him was difficult, and made Pacificus and me hard and strong. He thought he had broken us, and gave us commands in his horde. But we began to conspire against the Santa, as his lust for power developed into a consuming fire within him, and soon all vestiges of his former self were annihilated, with not even smoldering remains left to remind anyone of what he once was.

"He desired to rule the world in its entirety, and subjugate the Ground Dwellers. But he knew he was not strong enough, so he furtively built an army by stealing their children once every year. To distract your people from those missing pups, he left toys with the weaklings he did not desire. This caused the people to favor the Santa, and allow him into their lives. No one realized that the children who went missing on the Santa's day of choice were vastly superior in stock and capability than those incomplete Ground Dwellers who went missing during other parts of the star cycle.

"He gave his stolen prey newly devised berries which retarded their growth and shadowed their minds, forcing them to labor as his pawns. He had them create toys to distract from his yearly thievery, and also train them in the dextrous arts necessary for their eventual conquest.

"Do you understand, Miss? It is time we stop him, and only you and the Sparkle Skin can help us."

It was a lot to get my head around, but it seemed to make sense. _Yes_, I monologued to myself, _he is telling me how things really are_. I was grateful for his narration, and was wondering if his brother Pacificus was telling Edward the same things. _If anyone can help them, surely it must be Edward. I've never seen him lose anything_. _But there is one thing that is bothering me about all this, and if he couldn't clear it up, I might not be able to trust him…_

"Wait, Aquarides, there's something fishy about all this. If your people were from the North Pole, how did you go and colonize the seas? That doesn't seem to make any sense to me?" I questioned, proud of the fact that I wasn't being gullible given my circumstances.

"Yes, you are wise to ask this, Miss. Let it truthfully be known that you are capable of the task that lies before you." His words flattered me, and put me at ease." Then he continued by saying, "Yes, my people came from these Snowlands long ago. But some of us longed for warmer homes, but we are such that we cannot live unless we are surrounded by the compound created by one hydrogen and two oxygens. You see, snow is the same as water, it is only colder. So my father had the notion to bring us to the vast oceans around us. Imagine, if you will, as if you moved from your home of Forks, Washington in the cooler months to somewhere like Barbados in the hot times, and you will understand what it was like for us to travel to our new kingdom." His explanation elucidated everything for me, and I wished everything could be so clear to me as his people's history was at that moment.

"I understand, Aquarides. But why us? Why can't someone else stop him?" I wondered aloud.

"The Santa is a High Frost Beast of the Snow, and the prophecies suggest that an immortal who shines in the sun will come along with one who shines not at all, and lash out with the avenging rage of a thousand bears protecting their offspring, ridding the world of the Santa's malice. This means that you and the Sparkle Skin will destroy the Santa."

"Ok, Aquarides, I'm ready," I said, my will as determined as steel was hard. "Bring me to Edward."

We walked into a chamber shimmering with jewels. It seemed as if they were sprinkled everywhere, like so many seashells on a beach during a summertime low tide in the tropics. There I saw Edward, standing tall, strong, and godlike.

"Edward!" I shouted with uncontrollable excitement as I ran to him as a child runs towards his favorite cartoon character at an amusement park. My twin arms embraced him, and I could feel a warmth emanate from our joined vessels. It was like his love for me was bursting from him to create comfort within me, and I sighed in contentment, knowing everything would turn out the way it should now that we were back together.

"Yes Bella, it is me. You are safe," he said as calmly as a hostage negotiator performing his duty admirably.

"Pacificus," Aquarides spoke, "is it done?"

"That it is, my brother, we have had another great success on this day!" Pacificus bellowed. He was dressed like Aquarides, but his uniform was dark red and he had black epaulettes, as black as the night sky the night Edward and I shared the peace of the darkness before we were brought here to help these beautiful brothers. His hair was closely cropped and fiery red, and his goatee was smartly tailored to his visage. He was a large man, built like bridge that could carry a city's worth of refugees during a catastrophe. He didn't have a sword, but rather a steam-powered hammer he held in his hands. "Before the star drops all we have striven for will come to pass!" His excitement was contagious, and I was ready for anything.

I noticed Edward was holding a fine brown pouch, moist with the remnants of a liquid. "Edward, what is that?" I asked, pointing at the damp bag with my ringless right index finger.

"Something only I could get, Bella," he enunciated chagrinfully, the spirit of his words dauntless and indomitable.

"It is the key to our victory today, Miss," Aquarides ejected. "Do you remember how I told you that the Santa grew berries in the darkest recesses of this Pole? The Sparkle Skin is the only one other than the Santa who can enter that place, just as the prophecies foretold so long ago."

"I ate them, Bella. I can feel them working inside," he said, his face displaying courage.

"What will happen!?" I asked, concerned that it might be bad.

"He will earn what he needs to bring the prophecy foretold to being in the present!" guffawed Pacificus, and again I felt reassured. "When the time is right, we will see what these dark berries will have wrought for the forces of light!"

We hurried through myriad corridors, each one as empty as the one preceding it, until we reached a door carefully crafted to display it as a solid barrier of protection to what lay beyond. _Where are all the people_, I pontificated. _This place is so big, shouldn't there be people here?_ Before I had time to ask any questions, Pacificus articulated his thoughts towards us.

"When we cross this threshold, young cubs, we will encounter our meeting with destiny!" he howled with manic laughter as he hammered his large, glove-encased fist-hand in the air. His enthusiasm was radiantly tangible in the frigid cold of our location. "Sparkle Skin, can you still feel it inside of you? Are you pre…PARED!?" he paused in the middle of the word and emphasized its ultimate syllable as a teacher would accentuate the importance of doing one's homework. A furiously toothfilled grin beamed from his face, and his eyelids made no attempt to hide the whites of his see-spheres.

"Yes, Pacificus, my part will be played," Edward responded magnificently. He was my prince indeed. "Bella, you should stay apart from me, I don't want you in danger, and I am dangerous right now."

"Are you hungry? Feed from me, and we can be together forever," I proposed giddily.

"I can't, although this place is driving my hunger forward. I don't know how much longer I can resist it," he cautioned wistfully.

"YES! THAT MEANS THE TIME IS NIGH, MY BRETHREN! LET US HASTEN TO GLORY!" Pacificus cried shrilly as he manfully swung his steamhammer against the door, splintering it with an immeasurable cacophony of power.

Inside, I could see where all the people were hiding this whole time. They were inside this room, so large it could have been a Roman stadium. Throngs of children glared at us, shocked that their door was no longer there. There was nothing but silence in the air, and the room was still. In its center, there was an imposing being who was clearly the patriarch of this brood. He arose from his throne with the speed of a cheetah during the chase for a necessary catch, deeply growling "How dare you!" with a tone that let us know he was making a statement, not asking for an answer.

That fanned Pacificus' passion like a fire would be turned into a raging inferno if those attempted to extinguish it sprayed gasoline on it instead of water. Holding the steamhammer high and pointing it the Santa, he raged into the sea of children, pushing them aside thoughtlessly with his free hand and legs as his audible breathing teetered on the cliff's edge of hyperventilation. His crash of his boots on the ground beneath him thundered forcefully throughout the chamber, and younger children began silently weeping.

"Pacificus, what are you doing!?" Aquarides yelled, but his voice could not overcome the outpouring of violence from Pacificus' train-like endeavor.

Now at an enviable sprint towards the Santa, Pacificus began swinging his steamhammer over his head like the rotors of a helicopter, hovering somewhere between wailing a battle cry and cackling wildly.

Suddenly, the Santa began luminescing and quickly he was no longer the bear of a man he had been moments before, but something that had the body of an elk, the head of a frenzied, white fur-covered alligator and the dual tentacles of a giant squid. He continued glowing red, and as he let loose an unrelenting honk, he swatted Pacificus with a balled tentacle, hurling him straight back across the room and out the door to us as we watched, not knowing what to do.

Pacificus was motionless and on the ground before us.

"That was the Santa's Joermungandr form," said Aquarides. "We have lost the element of surprise, and will need to fight him without it." He looked up again, searching the room for the High Frost Beast of the Snow, but he was nowhere to be found. There were only children. But from somewhere in the room, a booming voice emanated, and sounds came to us that sounded like "Get them!"

"He has disguised himself now. I will hold off his minions as they charge the gate. Pacificus still has a faint sign of life in him, I can sense it. Sparkle Skin, I need you to turn him into one of your kind so that he can rejoin the fight. Bella, give him your strength as he does this." I could sense the closest thing to fear Edward ever expressed sneak onto his face, but as he started to argue, Aquarides purposefully unsheathed his sword, gripped it in his powerful hands and strode towards the door. The first of the young, shadow-clouded slave soldiers reached the door, each of them carrying child-sized daggers, and Aquarides shouted "For the House of Atlantis!" skillfully swinging his edged, sharply pointed tool into the crowd of children as if it were an extension of himself.

"Bella, I can't. I won't be able to stop. These berries, they've filled me with such power." His eyes were begging.

"You've always been there for me, and now I am here for you," I said, trying to be for him what he always was for me. "You're not a monster, you're a Cullen, and one day, when we are old and looking back on this moment, we will be reminded that our love cannot be defeated." He stared at me familiarly and stroked my cheek with the back of his hand. Then he turned towards the lightly wheezing Pacificus and feasted on his jugular.

The Wise Man Fish's blood certainly had an effect on Edward, and I could sense a growing insatiability in him. His mind wanted him to stop, but his vampire-stomach beckoned him to continue, desiring every drip of lifejuice from the big man. I crawled behind Edward, and whispered in his ear "You've done it, look at me now." But he kept drinking, tears streaming down his face. I tried again, saying "It's over, he is healed," but it was to no avail. I didn't know what to do, and my frustration was building. _Why isn't he listening?_ _If he keeps this up, Pacificus will die!_ I looked back at the door, and saw Aquarides still fighting his viciously diminutive foes, small stab marks creating stains on his uniform. His handiwork was creating a landfill around him, but instead of trash, this dump was filled with tiny, lifeless warriors.

The scene was more than I could take. I started pounding on Edward's back, screaming at him to stop. Pacificus began convulsing. Still hitting his hindside, I kissed the nape of his neck and screamed out my love for him.

He stopped.

He turned to me, vibrant and beautiful. "Thank you," he said, and I swooned.

Just then, Pacificus sprung upwards and barked "I AM ASCENDED! I AM THE DRAGON!" His steamhammer had been lost in his initial bout against the Santa, but he cared not. He marched towards the door, each step an exercise in abundant power. He looked at Aquarides intensely, pushing him aside.

"Pacificus, calm yourself!" Aquarides beckoned. But it was to no avail. Pacificus was not in control of his new vampiric powers.

"On this night, this travesty will PERISH! I shall be the cleansing waters which will erode the FILTH from this CANYON of EVIL! YOU WILL TASTE MY SWEET RETRIBUTION AND JUSTICE, AND IT WILL BE SOUR, SNOWLANDERS!" He bowled over the children like so many stalks of corn. They were powerless against him and his might.

"Sparkle Skin, go now!" Aquarides howled importantly.

I watched as Edward ran with his inhuman speed through the path of destruction forged by Pacificus. Pacificus launched himself into the air with his newly found strength, and hit the ceiling. He fell to the ground, then he did it again. And again. One more time he repeated. Now the sun began shining through.

_The sun began shining…_

Edward and Pacificus, now a vampire, began sparkling. It was beautiful, and I cherished the sight, feeling blessed and in love, still in disbelief that I could have found someone so perfect.

But just then, I witnessed something terrifying.

Edward began shining more spectacularly than Pacificus, brighter than I had ever seen before. His rainbow sparkles became so intense that I had to avert my loving gaze. He shook with great violence, as if there were an earthquake raging inside his body. The colors alternated across the spectrum. Edward screamed painfully, and the sound soon became a tinny whine.

The Santa now transformed back into his Joermungandr form. He was ready for battle. Pacificus ran and held the High Frost Beast of the Snow on the ground. Edward began sparkling even brighter now, the tinny whine so high that it was now inaudible. Inaudible to everyone but the Santa.

The Santa began swirling in Pacificus' grasp. He gurgled powerfully, frothing at the mouth. Edward shook towards him, slowly at first, but then faster and faster. Faster now. The vampire caught the manifestation of evil incarnate. Light shined from his his every orifice, and the Santa's screams were an abomination against silence.

"Aquarides, what's happening?" I asked, worrying about what was happening to my love.

"Peace," he whispered with a practiced reverence.

I looked back at the scene unfolding before me, the chaos overwhelming my mind. I saw Edward look at me, and he managed to say only: "Bella…"

Then a ball of light surrounded him. It caught the Santa, Pacificus, and all the lost children. It spun faster and faster, a whirlwind of rainbow illumination reflecting off the icy walls. It flew through the hole in the ceiling.

And it exploded.

"Noooooo! Edward!" It was as if my soul were the Titanic, and the events that were unfolding before me were a devastating iceberg of fear and hate. My very being had been eviscerated carelessly.

"They are at peace, and so are we. This is our first Merry Christmas, Miss. In time, you will see," Aquarides reassured me.

I wept painfully, and he embraced what was left of me.

"Let us embark in a new world free of terror, Bella Swan."

It was the first time he said my name.

[_Bella. I'm here, and you're safe._ _Live on, and talk to me in your prayers._] It was Edward's voice, but I knew only I could hear it.

"Merry Christmas, Aquarides," I stammered. _Goodnight, my prince_, I noiselessly prayed to Edward. _I know you haven't left me_.


End file.
